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A good digital thermometer keeps me from serving dry overcooked food or dangerously undercooked food. You can get a professional grade, fast and precise splashproof thermometer like the Thermopop (above) for about $24. The Thermapen (below), the Ferrari of instant reads, is about $96. It's the one you see all the TV chefs and all the top competition pitmasters using. Click here to read more about types of thermometer and our ratings and reviews.

GrillGrates(TM) amplify heat, prevent flareups, make flipping foods easier, produce great grill marks, keep small foods from committing suicide, kill hotspots, are easier to clean, flip over to make a fine griddle, smolder wood right below the meat, and can be easily removed and moved from one grill to another. You can even throw wood chips or pellets or sawdust between the rails and deliver a quick burst of smoke to whatever is above. Every gas grill and pellet smoker needs them.

If you have a Weber Kettle, you need the amazing Smokenator and Hovergrill. The Smokenator turns your grill into a first class smoker, and the Hovergrill can add capacity or be used to create steakhouse steaks.

Absolutely positively without a doubt the best bargain on a smoker in the world.

This baby will cook circles around the cheap offset sideways barrel smokers in the hardware stores because temperature control is so much easier (and that's because smoke and heat go up, not sideways).

Made of rugged 1/8" thick aluminum, 20" long, with four serious rivets, mine show zero signs of weakness after years of abuse. I use them on meats, hot charcoal, burning logs, and with the mechanical advantage that the scissor design creates, I can easily pick up a whole packer brisket. Click here to read more.

Mo's Smoking Pouch is essential for gas grills. It is an envelope of mesh 304 stainless steel that holds wood chips or pellets. The airspaces in the mesh are small enough that they limit the amount of oxygen that gets in so the wood smokes and never bursts into flame. Put it on top of the cooking grate, on the burners, on the coals, or stand it on edge at the back of your grill. It holds enough wood for about 15 minutes for short cooks, so you need to refill it or buy a second pouch for long cooks like pork shoulder and brisket. Mine has survived more than 50 cooks. Click for more info.

The same knives used at Peter Luger, Smith & Wollensky, and Morton's. Machine washable, high-carbon stainless steel, hardwood handle. And now they have the AmazingRibs.com imprimatur. Click for more info.

Other stuff

Lang 36" Original Patio Model

Manufacturer: Lang BBQ Smokers

The Lang family has been in the meat smoking business for generations. In 1988 they began manufacturing and selling smokers. Known for reverse flow designs, (see diagram below), Lang manufactures a wide variety of smokers from 36" to 108". A relatively new development for Lang is their Hybrid cookers that have a sealed off charcoal grill on the left side and a traditional smoker with attached firebox on the right.

The baffle in the above diagram is a V-shaped trough or griddle. Drippings hit the griddle and sizzle, sending moisture and flavor into the smoke box. Grease and gunk never goes into the belly of the smoker, but is diverted outside. Primary racks are positioned about an inch above the griddle. Since drippings don't build up under the racks, they always hit hot metal instead of a pool of gunk and sizzle as the excess moves into the trough and heads out the 2" brass gate valve.

Owner, Ben Lang, feels this "clean design" is a hallmark of Lang Smokers because it cooks clean and is easy to keep clean. Just scrape the trough and hit it with a water hose when needed, gunk is cleared out through the gate valve and the griddle is ready to sizzle clean again, all without disturbing the firebox. Some owners actually season a section by the firebox and use it as a griddle.

As a youngster, Lang cut his teeth bussing tables and says one way to tell a good restaurant is if the employee's fingernails are clean and the restrooms spotless: that's a good indication of what's going on in the kitchen. "When you make an apparatus that's hard to clean, people aren't going to clean it often", Lang states, "If cooking equipment in the kitchen takes hours to clean thoroughly, the staff may only do it once a week, same with a smoker".

Lang says many residential customers come to him after struggling with Cheap Offset Smokers from the hardware store. "After a while they realize they need something better and are ready to graduate to Lang", he smiles adding, "The purchase becomes a legacy to their family providing comradery when cooking and eating for generations".

Lang 36" Original Patio Model

Lang's 36" Patio Smoker is their most popular residential model. With two 18.5" x 15" bottom racks and a 23.5" x 16" sliding upper rack, Lang claims it will hold 60 to 72 lbs. of meat with room to spare. Expanded metal cooking grates are reinforced with square tubing frames. It has a V-shaped grease pan or trough with 2" brass gate valve and a 17" x 17" firebox.

Like all Lang smokers, the 36" Patio employs their signature reverse flow design which some believe provides more even air and heat flow than traditional offsets that have a firebox on one side and chimney on the other. Reverse Flow smokers place the chimney directly above the firebox, so heat travels along the bottom of the cook tank to the opposite side where it flows upward then reverses course and heads back where it came from then out the chimney.

Our MSRP below is for the basic backyard model. An optional warmer box, (shown right), sits on top the firebox. The Patio is also offered in a 48" model that can be trailer mounted.

Price:

Primary Function:

Fuel:

Primary Capacity:

Manufacturer claims that all or
practically all of this device is made in the USA

Yes

Review Method:

Researched it from Afar

We have researched this product from afar by gathering info from the manufacturer, owners, and other reliable sources, with our BS meters on high.

Read these related articles

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Why you need a digital thermometer. This is the single most important page on this website. Cooking is all about temperature control and a good digital thermometer will prevent overcooked food or worse, making your guests sick with undercooked food. And no matter what you spend on a grill or smoker, the thermometer is crap.

Got a Weber Kettle? You need a Smokenator. This inexpensive device converts grill into a smoker in minutes. Whether you currently own a Weber Kettle or not, this is an economical way to get the best of both worlds.

Please read this before posting a comment or question

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2) Please tell us everything we need to know to answer your question such as the type of cooker and thermometer you are using. Dial thermometers are often off by as much as 50°F so if you are not using a good digital thermometer we probably can't help you. Please read this article about thermometers.

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About this website. AmazingRibs.com is all about the science of barbecue, grilling, and outdoor cooking, with great BBQ recipes, tips on technique, and unbiased equipment reviews. Learn how to set up your grills and smokers properly, the thermodynamics of what happens when heat hits meat, as well as hundreds of excellent tested recipes including all the classics: Baby back ribs, spareribs, pulled pork, beef brisket, burgers, chicken, smoked turkey, lamb, steaks, barbecue sauces, spice rubs, and side dishes, with the world's best buying guide to barbecue smokers, grills, accessories, and thermometers, edited by Meathead.

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